Welcome to The Arc of North Carolina.
Working with and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for over 50 years.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Monday Quick Hits: Hot Policy Topics for This Week

North Carolina:

Today the House and Senate will convene at 7:00pm.

7:00 PM

Session Convenes (House)

House Chamber

7:00 PM

Session Convenes(Senate)

Senate Chamber

Budget:

The budget debate is far from over. The House passed their budget at 12:01AM on Friday morning. The Senate will receive the budget this week and will vote to not concur with it. This will quickly set up the conference committees for the appropriation subcommittees.

We will be posting here the list of items that are in conflict between to the two HHS budget items.

Hanging over the budget process is the significant delay in getting the US Congress to take up and pass the all important FMAP extension. This delay is causing House and Senate leaders to try and find a way to cover a 500 million dollar hole in the budget. Some options mentioned so far are to keep the budget as it is now, and hope that FMA gets passed. If it does not get passed then there will be a special session to handle the deficit. A second option would be significant cuts to the HHS budget that would eliminate some optional Medicaid programs. The third option would be to cut in other departments or use some of the limited rainy day funds.

None of these options sounds good for the people who are receiving necessary services.

Facebook Badge

Power of the Disability Vote!

The Arc of North Carolina 2011 Legislative Agenda.

The Arc of North Carolina advocates for and with families and people with cognitive and developmental disabilities. We believe that the following legislative agenda promotes our goals of advocacy, inclusion, and access to the communities we live in.

The Arc of North Carolina Proposed Policy Agenda 2011

Budget:

The Arc of North Carolina understands the current budget constraints that the state of North Carolina finds itself in due to the economic recession. During this critical time it is more important than ever to protect needed services for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.We encourage the members of the General Assembly to do the following things to protect the integrity of community-based services for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities in our state.

No additional cuts to state-funded services for people with developmental disabilities.

Apply for 1915 (i) State Plan services for adults with developmental disabilities targeting supports that currently utilize state general fund appropriations and utilizing those funds a Medicaid match.

Add an additional CAP-DD Waiver for people with developmental disabilities who have significant behavioral and or medical needs.

Raise the Supports Waiver limit to 25 thousand dollars.

Utilize the Supports Intensity Scale as an initial eligibility tool for entrance into the CAP waivers with a reconsideration process utilizing other information.

Manage all of developmental disability services from a state system utilizing existing local structures where appropriate.

Housing:Fair Housing Act Amendment.

This legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis or receipt of housing assistance. Many people with disabilities receive housing assistance. This legislation if passed would assist in opening more housing opportunities to the disability community.

Education:Study ways to allow students with developmental disabilities to access current courses in our community college system. Included in this study we must look at ways to offer real job skill training to students with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

The Arc of North Carolina

Welcome to The Arc of North Carolina's official policy blog. The Arc has been serving people with disabilities for more than 50 years. In an effort to reach out to our statewide community about issues that effect us we have established this blog.

Become A Member of The Arc of North Carolina:We encourage you to become a member of The Arc of North Carolina. You can find out more about becoming a member by visiting http://www.arcnc.org/.

Visit Our Facebook Page

Join the debate. Have something to say and want quick feedback? Want to join the social networking craze? We invite you to visit and become a fan of our Facebook Page.

Contact Your North Carolina State Legislators!

Contact Congress!

About Me

Content Disclaimer

Opinions expressed on this blog are not necessarily the opinion of the The Arc of North Carolina or The Arc of the United States.The Arc of North Carolina is a non-profit and non-partisan organization. It does not endorse candidates or political parties.